A Washington location asked a group of armed corrections officers to leave

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Updated: 6:22 PM EST Dec 23, 2016

A Cheesecake Factory in Tacoma apologized after turning away a group of Washington State Corrections officers earlier this week. Officer Miriam Williams said she was approached by two employees before being seated at the restaurant Tuesday evening.

“Two people in suits…who we later found out were management were talking to my three co-workers,” she said. “Saying that we had to leave because we were armed in their building."

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The group of officers was asked to leave. Williams shared her experience on the Cheesecake Factory's Facebook page that night.

"I am local law enforcement and 5 coworkers and I were told to leave by the general manager, Will, of your Tacoma Mall location, because 3 of us were wearing our badge, gun and were visibly identifiable as on duty law enforcement," she wrote.

The post was shared more than 550 times.

The restaurant chain apologized Wednesday, saying the location's manager made a mistake citing a policy that doesn't allow guns in the restaurant.

"Some of you may have heard about an unfortunate, isolated incident in one of our restaurants involving officers of a local Dept. of Corrections. Thank you for your concern," the company said in a statement. "Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding of our policy, which allows uniformed officers and other identified law enforcement officers to carry weapons within our premises."

The Cheesecake Factory said the officers involved accepted their apology and were welcome back.

"We apologize for any misunderstanding. We spoke directly to the officers involved, to sincerely apologize and welcome them to our restaurants. We are pleased that they accepted our apology, and we look forward to having them as welcomed guests at any of our restaurants."